The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the referencing of sets of slide images acquired in distinct acquisition operations.
For various physiological conditions, such as cancer, infectious diseases, physiological disorders, and so forth, detection and monitoring may be based, in part, on the analysis of a biological specimen from the patient. For example, a sample may be analyzed to detect the presence of abnormal numbers or types of cells and/or organisms that may be indicative of a disease or disorder. Various types of microscopy may be employed for such analysis. Further, various stains and staining protocols may be employed as part of this analysis to allow visualization of different structures, chemicals, or environments that might aid in detection or diagnosis of a disease or disorder.
To facilitate analysis of such pathology or histology samples, automated microscopy systems have been developed that automate various aspects of the image acquisition process. In particular, digital optical microscopes may be used in such automated systems and provide a digital image output for each acquisition. Certain such systems employ scanning microscopes where a sequence of displaced images are acquired and associated together (e.g., “tiled” or “stitched” together) to form a composite of the sample region of interest. For example, in the context of pathology and histology imaging operations, tissue sample slides may undergo imaging to acquire digital images of small adjacent or overlapping areas at high magnification and/or resolution. The adjacent or overlapping images may then be joined or associated to form a larger image that maybe navigated on a digital display device. In this manner, a composite or mosaic image of the sample may be generated, displayed, and navigated by a reviewer.
A complicating factor in the image generation and review process may be attributed to protocols where a sample undergoes multiple staining operations. In such instances, each staining step is associated with removing the slide from the microscope stage, treating the sample to remove any existing stain and applying the next stain, and replacing the slide on the microscope stage for imaging of the sample with the new stain. However, the act of removing and replacing the slide on the microscope stage generally results in the slide being at a slightly different position for each round of imaging. As a result, corresponding images from each round of imaging may not be aligned. Further the composite images generated for each round of imaging may also be misaligned with respect to one another. As a result, analyses or comparisons conducted using images acquired using different stains may be difficult or otherwise inhibited.